United Arab Emirates - Fujairah Fort

UAE - Fujairah Fort at Bithmah Oasis

Sent by Ritz from Fujairah, UAE.

Fujairah Fort, built in 1670, was badly damaged in the early 20-th century. Considered the oldest fort in the UAE, it has served as a defensive building and a home for the ruling family. The Fujairah Fort is a mud brick structure with three major sections, several halls, one square tower and two round towers. The fort has been renovated and restored to its former glory. For many centuries it was the only stone building along the Fujairah coast. Located on a hill at the edge of date gardens.
One of the milestones in the building's history was a two-year occupation by Wahabbists, from 1808 to 1810. They took possession of the fort, as well as others along the Eastern Coast, until local tribes won it back. The British bombarded the fort in 1925 during a confrontation wit the Ruler of Fujairah and the towers facing the sea were severely damaged. It was the last time when British gunboats opened fire in the Gulf of Oman. (Source)

United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Abu Dhabi

Sent by Suzanne from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi (/ˈɑːbuː ˈdɑːbi/; Arabic: أبو ظبي‎ Abū Ẓabī Emirati pronunciation [ɐbuˈðˤɑbi]) is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest among the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper has a population of 921,000 in 2013.

Abu Dhabi houses offices of the federal government, and is the seat for the United Arab Emirates Government and the home for the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE from this family. Abu Dhabi has grown to be a cosmopolitan metropolis. Its rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed Abu Dhabi to a larger and advanced metropolis. Today the city is the country's center of political, industrial activities, and a major cultural, and commercial centre due to its position as the capital. Abu Dhabi alone generated 56.7% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates in 2008.

Abu Dhabi is home to important financial institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the corporate headquarters of many companies and numerous multinational corporations. One of the world's largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in financial services and tourism.

Abu Dhabi is the second most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and 67th most expensive city in the world. Fortune magazine and CNN stated in 2007 that Abu Dhabi is the richest city in the world. (Source)

United Arab Emirates - Sharjah Cultural Square

Sharjah Cultural Square.

Sent by Salah from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates - Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa or Khalifa Tower.

Sent by Salah from United Arab Emirates.

This is from Wikipedia : Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎ "Khalifa Tower"),[8] known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010, and is part of the new 2 km2 (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Dubai at the 'First Interchange' along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district.

The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect, and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea.

The total cost for the project was about US $1.5 billion; and for the entire "Downtown Dubai" development, US $20 billion. In March 2009, Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of the project's developer, Emaar Properties, said office space pricing at Burj Khalifa reached US $4,000 per sq ft (over US $43,000 per m²) and the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, sold for US $3,500 per sq ft (over US $37,500 per m²).

The project's completion coincided with the global financial crisis of 2007–2010, and with vast overbuilding in the country, led to high vacancies and foreclosures. With Dubai mired in debt from its huge ambitions, the government was forced to seek multibillion dollar bailouts from its oil rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. Subsequently, in a surprise move at its opening ceremony, the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa, said to honour the UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his crucial support.

Due to the slumping demand in Dubai's property market, the rents in the Burj Khalifa plummeted 40% some ten months after its opening. Out of 900 apartments in the tower around 825 were still empty at that time.

United Arab Emirates - Madinat Jumeirah

Madinat Jumeirah and view of Burj Al Arab

Sent by Kirti from Dubai in United Arab Emirates.

This is from Wikipedia : Madinat Jumeirah, owned by Jumeirah, is the largest resort in Dubai, designed like old Arabia spread across over 40 hectares of landscapes and gardens. The resort has two boutique hotels (Al Qasr and Mina A'Salam) and a courtyard of summer houses called Dar Al Masyaf.

United Arab Emirates - Burj Al Arab & Jumeirah Beach Hotel

Burj Al Arab, the world's tallest and most luxurious hotel and Jumeirah Beach Hotel

Sent by Kirti from Dubai in United Arab Emirates.

This is from Wikipedia : The Burj Al Arab (Arabic: برج العرب‎,"Arab Tower", also known as "Arab Sail") is a hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and is a self-proclaimed 7-star hotel. At 321 m (1,053 ft), it is the second tallest hotel in the world. The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 m (920 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure whose shape mimics the sail of a ship.

Jumeirah Beach Hotel is a hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The hotel, which opened in 1997, is operated by the Dubai-based hotelier Jumeirah. The hotel contains 598 rooms and suites and 19 villas. This wave-shaped hotel complements the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, which is adjacent to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The hotel occupies a location on the beach. Visitors to the hotel have at total of 33,800 square metres (364,000 sq ft) of beach for their use. Beside the hotel is the Wild Wadi Water Park. All guests in the hotel have unlimited access to the waterpark.

The beachfront area where the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel are located was previously called Chicago Beach. The hotel is located on an island of reclaimed land offshore of the beach of the former Chicago Beach Hotel. The locale's name had its origins in the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company which at one time welded giant floating oil storage tankers on the site.

The old name persisted after the old Hotel was demolished in 1997 since Dubai Chicago Beach Hotel as the Public Project Name for the construction phase of the Burj Al Arab Hotel until Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the new name.

When completed in 1997, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel became the 9th tallest building in Dubai. Today, it is ranked lower than the 100th tallest building. Despite its lower rankings, the hotel remains a Dubai landmark.